fall out
by baings
Summary: The red virus is destroying those that it infects. How does the former Ninja survive as a human?
1. Chapter 1

Prologe

The time was night, a dark starless winter night. Snow was falling from the darkness of the sky, making it appear as if drops of light were escaping the shadows. Snow was on the ground, pileing in thick layers over the ground.

In the fallen snow was drops of a foreign color, it melted the now in where it dropped, the color of crimson. Blood stained the white purity. The drops were near foot prints, that lead as far as the could in the snow. They went on for miles, all though most of them had dissapeared from the snow fall.

The maker of the footprints was a man, a tired and broken man, He was around 18 mabey 20, he was tall and lean man. He had a pale complexion, his pale skin was covered in his blood. He was limping in pain and felt death linguring near. His hair which was once a long and chocolaty brown, now cut and matted from battle.

His eyes were a pearl color, his left eyelid cut and swollen shut. The other eye opened slightly and sight getting blurry, His clothing torn and stained. Battered and bloody, Neji Hyuuga, would either die from blood lose, or hypothermia.

Slowely stepping through the soft ice, all of his thoughts gone, nothing mattered. He just knew he had to keep moving. Step by step, he couldn't remember how long he's been walking, everything was just too much of a blur.

His pace was slow, and he seemed to be a dead man walking. His vision was getting blurry, and his balance was becoming uneven. It wasn't long till his body met the ice in his fall. he didn't have the chakra to keep himself warm, hell he didn't have the chakra to do anything. It was because of the red virus.

The red virus was a disease that seemed to be everywhere these days. It was created by enemy ninja to distroy any enemy, unfortunatly it would attack everything with a chakra stream. It ate at your chakra, and what was lost would never come back, you would either die in the process, or no longer posess any way to use chakra, they become normal....and there is no cure for it.

Fallen in the snow he didn't know what to do. He rolled on his back to see the sky for the final time. He just staired at the sky, everything was getting so blurry. It all looked like blacks and whites, but it wasn't long till another color came to view. There was a purple, and a blue..and then green, a green that seemed so familiar.

Before It could come to his mind he passed out. Her heard one last sound before his rest.

"What in the hell!! Neji!!?!??"

---------

Neji began to stir around from where he was, This wasn't where he passed out, it was warm and soft. He didn't feel any pain either, he felt a numbness. He began to move his hand on what he was, was it a bed?

Then he finally opened his eyes, his sight was blurry so he rubbed his eyes to adjust his focus. It wouldn't clear it's self up. He touched his eyelids, his left eye had cloth over it, he felt around his head some more and he felt bandages, someone bandaged his head. His right eye got adjusted enough to see on it's he finally looked up. It was a ceiling, there was little black doodles all over it. He turned his head to the left, he was on a bed. he also saw his body. It was bandaged and taped back together.

He put his arms behind him and pushed himself up to a sitting position. He looked around the room where he was in. It was clean except for the first aid kit scatered everywhere. The room wasn't painted, but it had photos in frames and drawing right on the wall. They looked profesional too.

The bedding was blue and had a few blood stains, probably from him. And he seen something by his foot. It was a mixture of colors, browns, reds, whites, and blacks. It began to move, what was it? Splotches of color adorned it's body, a body the size of a large raccoon.

It stood up and staired at him. Neji blinked....it was a cat, a really fat cat. It was a calico cat which explanes it's odd colors, but it's the other things that made him wonder.

The cat didn't have four legs that supported it, but three. The last one seemed to have never been there, or mabey removed. And it's eyes, or eye. The right one was a light blue, a very cat like blue, and the other eye was shut completely with a scar across it. Did it get in a fight or something?

It began to walk up to him, he felt very heavy and it hurt a little bit do to his wonds. The cat stopped at his waist and looked up at him and gave a very deep and lazy

"Meeeoooow."

Neji blinked a bit, as the cat jumped off of him and onto the floor, the fat thing could jump. It walked over to a door and pushed it open with it's body. Neji began to wonder, who bandaged him up?

He started to turn his body to put his feet on the floor, was he strong enough to stand. He made his way up to his standing position. Then he realized something else, he was freezing. He noticed that he was stripped of his clothing besides his boxers. A chill ran up his spine.

He was debateing on either walking out of here, or crawling back in the bed. he thought for a minute, then compromised the situation. He would leave...but he would take the comforter.

He opened the bedroom door, and walked out. He seemed to have been on a second level of a home, there were some stairs leading down. He looked around, there was a a kitchen and a living room in here. The kitchen had some trash on the counter, but was reasonably clean. It looked like a kitchen of an apartment. It connected strait to the living room. There was one big couch about 8 feet from the corner. The corner had a black entertainment center that held a T.V and a stereo. It seemed to have some kind of game system in it as well, since there were game cases and game controllers were two other couches and two armchairs on either side of the big couch.

Then there was a sliding glass door. It lead to a balcony, and he seen someone sitting in a chair. The porch light was on so he could see this person. They sat in a black camping chair. They may have had some kind of jacket on. The back of their head's hair was two different colors, blue and pink. He hesitated then began to walk to the slidder, he pulled it open, causing that person to turn around

It was a girl, she seemed to 17, maybe 19. She had bright neon green eyes with square shaped glasses over them. Her hair was cut be a little bit above her shoulder's. Her bangs covered her forehead. Her bangs were a dark sky blue. the rest of her hair had lines of pink and blue. He couldn't tell if it was blue on pink or pink on blue.

"Wow, I didn't expect you to be up this early." She said in astonishment, something about her seemed familar. Neji walked outside and closed the door. There was a chair next to this person, he decided to sit there. It was another black camping chair.

He sat there, the comforter covering him. There was snow all over the ground, even some on the balcony. Then he just staired at the girl. She had on a purple hoodie, and black sweats, no shoes.

"Who are you?" He asked looking at her, She sighed and staired back at him.

"I take it you don't reconize me Neji....i expected that though." She said straightening herself out.

"How do you know my name?" He asked hesitantly, she seemed familiar, but he couldn't place the name. She sighed then took off her glasses. Then she parted her bangs evely so they showed her forehead. She coughed a few times then began to act.

"NARUTO IF YOU DON'T STOP TRYING TO FORCE FEED HINATA THOOSE DAMNED NOODLES THEN I'LL KICK YOUR BLONDE ASS!!!!" She yelled angrily, that's when it hit him

"Haruno-san?" He asked in disbeleife, he hadn't seen her in years.

"No, I'm not Haruno-san, I'm Sakura. Just plain goddamn Sakura." She said scowling.

"Sakura." he corrected. She seemed to have changed a lot.

"What are you doing here?" He asked her. He thought she disapeared out of no where.

"I caught the red virus years ago, I was one of the first people to have survived." She said looking at the stars. When the virus first came to Konoha, he heard two very important people caught it.

" I left there a long time ago, I went to college, I'm living life like a normal person." She said proudly, she didn't moap around like some people did, she tried to pick her life up again. Neji looked at her and it hit him...he survived the red virus....he's human...just plain human.

He just sat there and let it soak in, what could he do now? The only thing he knew was ninjahood, nothing more. He felt helpless now, nothing could help him.

"I know that look, finally hit you that your no longer able to be a ninja." She said sadly to him,she had a comforting smile that took a lot of the emotion off of Neji.

"What can I do now?" He asked looking down at the balcony wood.

"...Don't know, but it's your decision." She said, and Neji looked at her oddly.

"You can either moap around and feel sorry for yourself, or you can do something about it Like me And Shikimaru did." She said leaning back...a little too far.

"Woah!" She shrieked as she fell backwards, hitting the wood with a thud.

Neji looked at her with a raised eyebrow, she was...different.

"Damnit, why is it always when I'm trying to make a point!!" She yelled angrily, Neji just wached as he wrapped the comfurter tighter around him, god he was cold. Sakura rolled out of the chair and stood up, just then there was rumble...it came from Neji. She looked at Neji, he was wrapped up like a ball. she smiled and threw her head back, letting out a laugh. Neji looked at her oddly as she laughed, what was she laughing at.

"Come on, lets get you inside and get you some food." She said as she opened the sliding glass door. They both entered her home.


	2. Chapter 2

It was morning when Neji began to stir,he opened his eyes, and saw nothing. Something was on his face. he moved his hand to his head..he felt something fluffy, and small. He felt more the grabbed something, and lifted what ever it was up. He blinked and stared at it...it was a kitten.

It had white fur and bright red eyes, it gave a small meow. Neji had it by the scruff of it's neck. It was very small, it's ears weren't even up on it's own, it was probably only a few weeks old, not even winged of it's mother yet.

He looked around, he was on the couch in the living room. Then he felt something wierd, like something was on his chest he looked down on his chest.

There was a more kittens on him...like 4 more of them. All of them a variety of colors. He raised an eyebrow. Where did all the cats come from? He grabbed them one by one and put them on the ground, then he sat up,He was still pretty sore but not as sore the night before.

He looked around, it was morning, but outside it was snowing like crazy. In Konoha it rarely snowed, and if it did it was way up in the cliffs and it would be very little.

" Wow your finally up." He heard, then snapped his head behind him. Which wasn't the smartest idea. It sent a surge of pain through his body. He fell off the couch. Sakura quickly ran to him.

He had never threw his neck out like that, it was very painfull. He couldn't turn his neck it hurt so bad. Sakura helped him back on the couch and looked at his neck. His neck made him look to the left. Neji was so in shock that it happened.

"Holy crow Neji, I can't believe you did that." Sakura said to the right of him...He didn't respond. She got off the couch and went to sit on the other side of him. Neji scowled at his actions, his body didn't have the chakra edge it did, his body was more fragile, especially with all of the injuries.

"I don't think my neck will move anytime soon." Neji admited, he was going to have to get used to this. Sakura sighed and got up.

"I'll be right back." She said walking away. Neji waited for her return and wondered what she was doing. Then something jumped on his lap, he couldn't see what it was till it jumped onto the back of the couch. It was the white kitten from earlier. It gave a small meow and began to lick his cheek and rub up against him. He sighed and began to pet it, it must of really liked him.

Sakura came up soon with a small container and a camera. She snuck in and saw him petting the kitten. She held in a chuckle and made her way carefully to the injured ex ninja.

The kitten jumped away onto his lap, landing on his croch. Neji scowled and bit his lip as he fell over in pain. Even that...was more painfull, they didn't joke when normal people got kicked there.

She surpressed a laugh. And walked over and looked at him, he looked like he was in serious pain.

"These cats love to cause pain just to let you know." She said smiling at his misery.

"How does...that hurt so bad." He said, his voice two octives higher. Sakura just laughed at him and sat him back up.

Once Neji's pain eventually resided Sakura put down the container and started to fiddle with her camera.

"What on earth are you," Neji began but was interupted by a bright light that shot directly in his right eye. blinding him for a brefe moment. He rubbed his eyes trying to get the flash affect out of his eyes.

" What on earth was that?!" He demanded, it blinded him quickly. Sakura sighed and put the object in his lap. he felt it....a camera?

"I take pictures of all the injuries your induries when you first catch the red virus, then I send them back home so they can show the former ninja's how fragile you become afterwords." She said opening the other container.

" So why didn't you ask me to just sit still." Neji asked wrikling his nose, the smell of ukaliptis and green tea filled his nose.

"Cause the expression on your face was priceless." Neji scowled and Sakura just grinned.

"Now hold still if you ever want to look forward again." She said taking some of the gel in the container and rubbing it in her hands. Neji stayed still. She started to rubb his neck, the gel on her hands began to heat up and relief spilled through his body. Neji relaxed at her touch as she losened up the stiff muscles in his back.

He was relaxed, then Sakura took her chance. She put her index fingers on both sides of his jaw and puched down on the middle of his neck with her thumbs.

"Hey Neji." She said nonchilantly.

"What is it?" He asked, trying to hide the pleasure he was feeling.

"What's the square root of an onion?" She asked. Neji raised an eyebrow. What in the world did she mean?

" Huh?" Then he felt a presure and swift pain in his neck. He blinked and noticed something.....he was looking forward again.

"What....what in the world?" He questioned looking up and down, side to side....His neck wasn't stuck. He turned his head to Sakura, She had her arms crossed on the couch and she smiled like an innocent child. She stood up straight and began to walk to the kitchen.

"By the way, the square root of an onion is a shallot." She said opening the fridge. Neji looked at her with a raised eyebrow, what in the world did she mean. Then it hit him.

"My god that actually makes sence."

It was a few minutes later that Sakura came out. She had in her hands two plates.

"You hungry?" She asked sitting down. He nodded as she handed him a plate.

It was scrambled eggs with peppers in them. He hadn't eaten anything in days and ate them quickly. Sakura just watched as he scarfed it down...When was the last time he's eaten anything?

"There's more up there just to let you know, do you want anymore?" Sakura asked, he nodded quickly. She chuckled and just gave him her plate, then got up and went to her small kitchen. Neji just kept eating.

By his 4th plate he had his fill and stopped eating.

"Man when was the last time you ate?" she asked washing the dishes, she didn't eat anything cause the way he ate made her lose her appetite. Heji shrugged, he didn't know. She sighed then went to a cabnet next to her stove, she grabbbed a little container that looked like it held vitamins.

She poured a bunch in her hands and went over to Neji.

"Eat these." she had about 6 in her hand, Neji raised and eyebrow.

"Why and what are they?" Neji didn't know what they were, his ninja powers may be gone, but her still had his instinct. Sakura blinked and then sighed.

"Their vitamins, they help boost your metabolism for a while, it helps you burn off all that food you ate." She started to explain, he was still untrusting.

"Your still eating like your a ninja, and when you were your metabolism was three times higher than it is now, so until your stomache starts adjusting to not as much energy being burned and it will try to shrink so you don't get some kinda of food related hernia." She finishes explaining and just dumped the pills in his hand. He sighed and began to eat the pills like it was some kind of candy. They made him light headed breafly then he was fine.

Then Sakura was back with more pills. Neji just looked at her in shock, how many pills did he have to take?

"You also have to take some for vitamin E suppliment, your carbohydrate burning rate, some for your chakra defusion to your eyes so it doesn't suck the life out of ya and and about everything else." Neji looked at all of the pills in her hand and sweatdropped, he sighed and began to eat them one at a time, trying to figure out which he had to swallow and which he had to chew.

When he was done he was nausius. That was more pills that he had ever tooken in all of his life. he looked at Sakura and she just chuckled.

"Relax I had to take twice as many as you did cause I had to test most of them." She said patting him on the back. He remembered she was one of the first people who ever caught the red virus and was one of the test subjects for the so called cures and the suppliments that would help her body try to get back to normal. It must of made her sick a lot.

She looked at the digital clock on her wall.

"Anyway it's time to change your bandages Sakura said walking to her bedroom and grabbing some things. she took a while and something showed up, that white kitten again. It meowed and it began to rubb against his leg, Neji didn't really grow up with animals in his life, he rarely went up as a child to pet a dog or a cat. It hopped up on his lap and purred and meowed, this cat was very lovable. Surprisingly he smiled he would of loved to have something this lovable in his life as a kid, maybe he wouldn't have been so focused on his destiny crap when he was younger.

Sakura came in with a first aid kit and walked over to the couch. Sakure giggled at the little kitten. Neji looked up at her as she walked around. The kitten meowed as she patted it on the head.

"Okay then let get a look at your head." She said. Neji faced her as she cut off the old bandages. She unwrapped it gentily and his wound was revealed, he had a bad cut right next to his eye lid so she just covered the whole thing. She grabbed some peroxide and a cotton swab. Neji held his breath expecting it to hurt a lot. It didn't to his surprise.

" Dude, I cleaned this wound last night and trust me it was better you were passed out." Sha said cleaning it.

" And may I ask why?" Neji asked as she searched for something in her first aid kit.

"Cause you would of screamed like a little girl." She chuckled out.

She finally found what she was looking for. It was a medical eyepatch. She put it around his head.

"Your wounds weren't very bad, it was mainly exhaustion." She said as she began to work on his other wounds.

She finished quickly and he had half of the bandages he had yesterday.

"Tomarow we'll need to go to town and get you some clothes for you." She said as she packed up and went back to her room.

Neji sighed, he really is human.

-------------------

man this chapter was a pain to write....srry. review plz


	3. Chapter 3

-1

The following day came slowly, it seemed forever and the sun still wasn't up.

Water poured from the shower head, hitting Neji's body like what seemed like needles from the beginning, good pressure. He washed the remaining of the fruity smelling female shampoo from his hair and he turned off the water, finishing his shower.

He stepped out to see the bathroom filled with steam. He quickly grabbed a towel and dried himself off. He looked to the counter to see Some sweats on the counter, some guys sweats.

Sakura lived in a duplex and the lady she lived with had a son a few years older then Neji, she was a nice lady and lent him some of his high school clothes, hell even some of his underwear he never wore, that made it easier for him to wear. He did have his standards.

Neji held the sweats to his body, He heard that the boy was built like a wall and was as tall as one too. The pants were very big on him, but he tied them up the best he could and he put on the sweat shirt, It was a an old greenish color and had and orange number on the shoulder. He put the towel around his neck and left the bathroom.

He climbed the stairs back up to the living room where Sakura was, she was actually out on the back porch sitting in one of the lawn chairs. She had her hands behind her head as she just looked out into the shadows.

He opened the slider door and went outside with her. It was February at the time and was still colder then it would be in Konaha. It was icy cold out and him lacking a proper heat insulator, Sakura quickly shoved him back inside the house.

"Sakura, I'll be fine." He said trying to walk back out onto the porch. But Sakura still stood in the way.

"No, your hair's wet, your going to get sick." She defended as she closed the back door as she came inside with him.

"Sakura, I'll be fine, I don't get that cold."

"Your hairs frozen!" She pointed at him. Neji grabbed one of the few long sections he had, it was frozen together in a chunk.

"My god your right." as he felt his hair in amazement, that was so quick it was unbelievable. He really had no idea about the ice. Sakura sweat dropped as he tried to pull apart his hair, easily entertained like the rest of them.

" My neighbor will lend you some shoes, he's coming with us to go to town." she said as she poured her self another cup of a black liquid she called coffee.

"What is that stuff anyway?" he said looking at the strange machine that made it.

"It's kind of like tea but more bitter, it's a good wake up call if you make it strong enough," She said taking a drink of it. "Want a cup?" She asked him, he thought briefly and shook his head, he'd try it. She poured him a cup and handed him the mug. He studied the dark brown liquid and smelt it, to him it smelt surprisingly delightful. He tasted it in a sip, but spit it back into the cup due to him burning every inch of his mouth. Sakura laughed at him.

"You just burned every inch of your mouth, didn't you?" She asked as he put the cup on the counter and covered his mouth. In embarrassment he didn't respond but turned his back to her. She laughed at him more.

Soon they heard the door bell ring, Sakura walked down stairs and opened the door while Neji just stayed up stairs. He heard small conversation and mumbling.

Who was this neighbor of hers anyway? a thought in a jealous tone growled in the back of his head. He shook his head, where did that come from?

He heard them come back up the stairs.

"Neji this is my neighbor." She said pointing at a man, His jaw dropped in an instant.

He was a little bit taller than Sakura. He had bright red hair that was tied back in a pony tail.

He had small eyes with black pupils. He had on a black jacket with a white t-shirt underneath with black jeans that seemed a bit tight.

He scanned this guy over and over again and one name popped into his mind.

"Shikamaru?" He asked in astonishment. He gave a smart grin

"Yup, didn't recognize me I guess right off the back did ya?" He smirked as he threw a pair of sandals at him.

"Are you guys ready? We'll get breakfast in town." He said rubbing the back of his head. then his eyes just stared at Neji, mainly his multilevel hair.

"Dude what did you do? Get in a fight with a pair of clippers?" He asked pointing at Neji's hair. He scowled at him.

"And what do you purpose I do about that?" He asked with his arms crossed. Shikamaru and Sakura looked at each other.

"Cut it." They both said in unison. Neji about jumped, his hair! Long hair for a guy was a trade mark for a Hyuuga.

"Besides, most of the hair here is basically dead." Sakura said holding up a strand that was frayed. Neji Growled and grabbed it from her. His hair was a part of him, he's had his hair long for a long time, and it had sentimental value to him.

" Anyway it's long enough we can probably donate it." Sakura said looking at it even more. Donate it?

"What do you mean about donating it?" he asked in curiosity, donate it to what?

"Theirs a center here that you send long enough hair, they make it into a wig and they give it to patients of Chemo. Theirs a little girl around here that just had to enter. She's a cute little thing." She said in a bit of a sad tone.

Neji thought for a second after hearing this. a little girl that lost her hair due to the only thing that could probably cure her condition. From looking at people he's met that had to undergo Chemo, it did scar them a bit cause most of them were girls. And a little girl being made fun of cause she wasn't like the rest of them, only because it was saving her life. that made Neji feel guilty a bit. If He did wanted to, he could just grow his hair back. Sakura's guilt trick worked on him.

"Fine." He said with a scowl, His first hair cut. He pondered on it as Sakura made him sit on her small table and got out some shears. This made him wonder...How good was she at cutting hair anyway? Shikamaru noticed his expression.

"Relax dude, She cuts most of the populations hair. But Stay still, Or she might do this to you." Shikamaru showed him his ear, It had a slice scar through it. Neji about got up off the table to hide till an object came projecting at Shikamaru's head. He dodged it as best he could but it still whacked him good against the head. Neji looked at Sakura in fear, She looked pissed.

"One we were Drunk! Two you kept trying to get me to Get you, your lucky it was your ear. I could of gone all Sweeney Todd on you." She growled as Shikamaru just stayed down in fear of her starting to through knives that were ever so close in her grasp.

"Maybe I should get one in town or," Neji began as he tried to get up, a butter knife flew past his face and went through the wall. Neji about pissed himself.

"Sit down." She growled, as a deathly aura surrounded her. Neji was scarred shitless. Sakura soon came around with a small pair of shears.

"Relax, I'm sober so I won't hurt you, quit being so chicken." She said as she grabbed a chunk of his hair that was closest to his neck. He held his breath and just waited to hear the snipping. He Finally heard the shears go, and he just waited for her to say she was done. He waited for a few minutes, and felt his head getting lighter.

"Well done." She said brushing the hairs off his shoulder. That wasn't as bad as he thought it would be. He waited for her to sweep up the hair and he finally got up. He swallowed, what was the results of his hair being gone? He walked to the mirror in the upstairs bathroom. He held his breath and finally looked.

His hair clung to his neck in the back and got shorter in the front, he had banes to his surprise. He actually liked this hair cut to his surprise. He owed Sakura an apology for being so worried, she knew what she was doing.

He walked out to see Sakura putting the hair in an envelope and taping it shut.

"So That good enough for your standards or do you want me to glue it back onto your head?" She asked jokingly. He gave a small grin, she was defiantly a joker.

"So are we ready to go? It will take a few minutes for the car to heat up." Shikamaru said walking down the stairs and going outside.

Neji Slipped on the sandals Shikamaru brought And Sakura put on a Coat with a very fuzzy hood. And after she turned off all of the electrical devices They both Left out the front door, locking it and they both walked over to Shikamaru's.

-----------------

review please, are your guys even interested in this story? I'm trying peoples!....*is hit for ranting*


	4. Chapter 4

Neji followed behind Sakura closely, it was still freezing out. His house was a duplex too, and built the exact same way as Sakura's. They went into the garage, which to Neji's chagrin, was colder then outside.

Shikamaru turned on the light and Neji saw the thing called. "A car." It was black and was very sleek looking. Neji had only seen a few cars in his life, none as sleek as this one.

"Yup, I fixed this up my self from being junk yard trash. It took a few years but it's well worth it. Don't you think?" Shikamaru asked watching Neji's face, it was a magnetic attraction at first sight. Neji just stood, how did this thing work? So many questions about this one thing. Sakura laughed at both of them.

"Amazing, you just forgot about what we were doing, didn't you?" Sakura asked with a grin, Neji remained in his trance. Sakura pushed him into the car. He fell in with a thud. It was warm, and felt comfortable. She closed the door and went up to the front and climbed into the front seat. She turned to him.

"Grab that belt to the right of you, put it in front of you so it covers your front and push into the buckle on your left." Sakura said pointing at it and giving directions. what did she mean?

Neji looked to his left and seen the weird belt with a buckle on it. He grabbed it and looked at it in curiosity. Then he looked to his right, then down and saw another little contraption. He looked at it and looked at the little buckle. Then he figured it out and put it together with a little click. Sakura smirked.

"Congratulations. Now I don't have to do it for you." She said sarcastically as Neji scowled. He's never been in one of these before, so how would he know what to do? Shikamaru soon came into the car and had some kind of key, Neji couldn't see what he was doing but soon heard a noise, that seemed to roar. It freaked him out, was there some kind of Dragon Summon near by?!?! He covered his head with his hands and just waited for the impact. Sakura and Shikamaru looked at him strangely.

"Dude, what are you doing?" He asked confused as her rolled up the window next to him. The noise wasn't so loud.

"What the hell is that noise?!?!"shreiked Neji,they had no means of defense, they were screwed. Then their expressions changed, and not in the way Neji thought it would. They both broke down laughing. Neji was speechless, How could they react like this at a time like this?

"Dude," Sakura said between gasps for air. "It's the car." She said then about fell over laughing. Neji didn't understand, the car....made that noise?

"The engine makes that noise, that's what makes it so valuable. Classics like this always make that noise." Shikamaru explained calming down, Sakura was still busting a gut.

"It's... supposed to sound like that?" Neji repeated what he said, he couldn't believe it. Something like that, made the noise to scare the devil out of him. Neji shut himself up and just thought for a while.

The car started to move and that freaked him out even more. Sakura gave him a calming look and he settled down. Shikamaru got out of the car and shut the garage door. He came back and They all started to drive away.

Neji tried to calm himself by watching the outside....which was basically impossible due to it still being pitch black out. He sighed then just lied back against the seat.

This world, it's so different then what he's used to. Machines that made noises like demons. Tea made from dark bean dust. Gaming systems, portable music players. A world where the possibilities never seemed to end, the unthinkable already exist and have been long forgotten with the creation of the new. This world in his eyes might just change before he's ready to. It scared him in someway, but it also fed him a certain adrenalin rush that he only received while fighting. His new future is his new drugs, and he wanted to get higher and higher.

They soon came to a stop which made Neji come back to reality. He looked around to see they pulled next to what looked like a small hut. He looked around, their was a woman maybe in her early 30's inside of it. On the outside of the small hut was what looked like a billboard. it looked like a menu to him. Shikamaru began to talk to her. The words he could make out were. "Mocha."and"Chai latte." he wondered what they were. They seemed to be a kind of food in his guess. He ordered some other things too and then pulled something out of his pocket. It was a wallet, and then he pulled out, a card? Neji looked in questionment, what value did a card have? Was that their currency? Cards were money? The lady took it and it was a minute or so. Then gave it back, Now Neji was really confused. So he decided to ask. He tapped Sakura on the shoulder.

"Sakura, what is he doing?" He whispered as she turned around, He was completely lost.

"He's paying for it." She said plainly, that didn't really give him the answer he was hoping for.

"No, I mean how is he paying for it. Do you use cards instead of yen?" He asked, what was his new money?

She raised a eyebrow, that's what he meant. She sighed and unbuckled the strap thing. Then she crawled over the seat to sit in back with him. Once she was next to him she reached behind her, and pulled out another wallet, hers was purple. She opened it.

"Alright then. Neji this is your first lesson on things here. Topic: Money." She said highly, it reminded him of his old teacher Iruka-sensei. She pulled out a small medallion that was a bronze color, the size of maybe a marble, and a flat as a scroll.

"Ok, this is the smallest amount of currency here. It's worth one cent, it's called a penny. No matter how much money you do have it can always be broken down into pennies." explained as he paid close attention.

"Smallest amount of ye, cents. Got it." He said conforming that he understood. She gave a small smile. She put it back and began to look for something else in her wallet, she brought out a silver cent piece this time, it was bigger than the one before, and thicker too.

"This is a nickel, it's worth 5 cents. 5 pennies." She said as he stared closer at it. Her lesson continued till Shikamaru stopped them. He had drinks a holder in his hand, it was odd looking to Neji. It contained what looked like paper cups with lids. He handed one to Sakura, then one to Neji. He grabbed it, it was warm. He looked at it oddly, then sniffed it. It had a weird spice to it, but he could pick out one smell to it. Coffee. He was now cautious of the drink do to this mornings previous performance of pain. Sakura noticed this and chuckled.

"Relax, this is different from what you had this morning. Trust me, you'll like it." She said as she put on the strap and secured it with a click. He frowned to himself, He honestly didn't want to burn himself like that again, but he took her word for it and took a drink.

It had a cinnamon taste to it, but it had a familiar taste to it too. Was it, tea?

"It's a chai tea latte. I had a feeling you'd like it." She said as she sipped hers. Neji did actually like the drink. It was different. He took another sip of it. Shikamaru began to drive away, and Sakura continued her lesson on currency.

----------------

I thought it would fit if Neji had a better experience with coffee, it's too good to hate. oh and the money thing might be good too.

anyway review please. This story seems to be easiest to update out of some.


	5. Chapter 5

The sun was looming over the horizon, the sky wasn't bright yet though. but it was lighter then before. Neji could faintly make out shapes as he sipped his drink. Neji watched the world, it was amazing how time didn't speed by in the car. He didn't understand how anything worked here, it was all done by machines. It used to be all walking to the next town, now he's in a car, an automotive creature. It was traveling faster then he could imagine one could. He leaned back a bit and relaxed.

He leaned his head back against the cushioned seat and closed his eyes. His head felt so light with his hair gone, the strain on his neck seemed to have disappeared.

It was an hour later that Neji's eyes opened, he seemed to have fallen asleep. He sat back up, the sky was much lighter then before, a light grey covered the sky. The car was a few degrees colder, but he seen that the window next to him was open a crack. Most likely to get some fresh air in the vehicle.

He stretched his arms and yawned. Sakura who climbed back over the seat looked behind her, she didn't notice he fell asleep. She shrugged and turned back around.

"If your tired you can unbuckle and lie down back there." Shikamaru said. The back seat was probably big enough for him to lie down. Neji nodded, he'd probably get some shut eye actually, he was all of a sudden really tired. He handed his cold coffee to Sakura and found the buckle, released it with a click. Then shifted his body so he could stretch out. He lied his head by the open window, it surprisingly felt very good on his head. He fell into a deep sleep easily.

Sakura chuckled as she watched him sleep, He was out. She leaned back far enough that she put her feet on the dashboard of the car.

"He's gonna sleep like a rock from now on isn't he?" Shikamaru asked as he continued to drive.

"Well his kekkei Genkai is slowly going to burn itself off, that's going to take a lot of his energy most of the time, it's better that he's sleeping it off then it sucking the life from him." Sakura explained turning on the heater even more. Shikamaru scowled.

"Hey, I'm roasting like a duck over here, stop turning it up so much." He complained as he turned it down. Why women were constantly cold was beyond him. Sakura punched him in the arm.

"You knock it off, I'm freezing. Besides I'm the one who's paying for the gas." She turned it up and enjoyed the car's efficient heater. Shikamaru frowned.

"It's my car!" He whined as he drove faster then before.

"And when you can actually pay for the gas You control it. Until then If you turn down that heater I'll kick you so hard in the nads you'll never have children!" She said childishly, it was an empty threat but it still scarred him. He once again swallowed his pride and just left it as is. He took off his coat and continued to drive. Shikamaru got his degree in auto engineering so he was immediately tooken as the towns mechanic. This time of year was right before hunting season so their wasn't much business. So Sakura helped him with something's like lending him money when he needed it.

They continued to drive.

Neji woke up slowly. He Kept his eyes closed and just listened. he heard noises. More cars? He sat up and opened his eyes. They were in a small town, their were a few buildings. some big, some small but they were spread out by acres of land. Neji tapped Sakura on the shoulder, she looked behind her.

"Sakura, where are we?" He asked.

"We're in Drigin, its the major town of this area...even if the max population is 600." She said, only 600 people...That's the same as a small neighbor hood in Konaha.

"No only about 585 I think, remember those hunters who got themselves killed at Rosetta peak and those teenagers who did that world of witchcraft thing and killed themselves last year." Shikamaru interrupted them, Neji just stared...they talked about it like it was no big deal.

"Hey what's wrong with you?" Sakura asked, his expression changed automatically.

" Your talking about someone's death like it's no big deal." He said quietly. Sakura chewed on her thoughts before answering.

"Well this kinda of thing happens all the time here Neji, this town has some of the highest death rates for hunters because of all the wild animals , and only the stupid drunk ones are the only ones dumb enough to fall off a cliff to their death or drown in a puddle of quicksand. most people have the common sense to avoid it or escape and save them selves." Sakura said bluntly. Neji was more shocked at this....this happens all the time? He just kept his head down in embarrassment and emotional disagreement. Sakura watched him and frowned. She stuck her hand over the seat, then began to pet his head.

"You feel like shit and you don't understand. So I will pet your head till you feel better." She said childishly. Neji looked up, Sakura was the same, kind, clever, and could make anyone feel better.

"Alright, we're up to our first stop." Shikamaru announced as he stopped the car in a small square. Neji looked around, There were other cars next to them....twice as big, but not as shiny. they un fastened their seatbelt and the opened a car door. Neji watched and was about to mimic it till Shikamaru stopped him.

"Don't hit the other car!" but it was too late, Neji closed the door a little and seen the huge car wasn't invulnerable, A dent was in it. He sweat dropped.

"Uh...did I do that?" He asked as he pointed in fear. Sakura laughed.

"Ha-ha, Steve eurkle hah!" Neji didn't understand... Eurkle?

"Damn it!! Were in deep shit now." Shikamaru said as he banged his head against the roof of the car.

"Oh shut up drama queen." Sakura yelled as he threw a snowball at him. She sighed. Sakura grabbed a wad of snow and walked over to the dent. She smashed it into it and it stuck. Neji just sweat dropped.

"Come on, lets go before the rush." She stated as she grabbed his hand and yanked him out of the car. Neji followed Sakura like a baby duckling and Shikamaru walked next to Neji.

Neji looked inside the building, he seen clothing, and food. It was a store.

"Ok, clothes first." She said as she grabbed a metal box with wheels and walked through out the store.

They reached the guys section for clothes, herself and Shikamaru walked different ways while Neji was looking around. He came to the cart and found no one...he swung his head back an forth and found no one. So he sat on the ground waiting.

People walking by just stared at him, he felt like a little kid who lost their parents for a brief moment. then they find them and they cry in fear of losing them again.

"Hey Neji!!" He herd someone yell...he could tell it was Sakura. She walked over and began glancing everywhere for him, she had a bunch of fabric in her hands.

"Neji?" She began to ask herself.

"I'm down here." He said admittingly. Sakura looked down.

"What are you doing down here?" She asked kneeling down to his level.

"You guys left so I stayed here." He said simply. Sakura chuckled at him and pulled him up by the arm.

"Come on, I need you to try these on." Sakura said dragging him to a collection of stalls in the middle off the store. A lady who looked bored was at the counter in front of the stalls.

"How many?" she asked looking up at them.

"Uh...about 6." She said picking out shirts and handing them to Neji.

"On your left." She said handing him a card with a 6 on them and left for some reason.

"Go try those on, pick out what you like and don't. I'll be out here if you need a bigger or smaller size." She said sitting on a nearby bench. Neji said walking into the hall of it, he walked to the nearest open door.

It was a small cramped up room with a small chair and a mirror. Neji looked at the shirts in his hands. They were different colors and lengths of sleeves. He lied them on the chair and picked up the first one.

A black plain one with long sleeves and a bunched up neck, He studied it and decided to put it on. He took off the jacket and put that one on. He had difficulty with the bunched up neck but he got it on. Neji looked at himself, he liked the long sleeves. but he still didn't like that neck. He took it off, again troubled by the neck.

"Hey Sakura." He called hoping he wasn't left alone in a strange building.

"Yeah?" he sighed in relief

"I guess I like this one....I don't like the bunched up neck though." He said hanging it on the other side of the door. He herd footsteps, he assumed it was her.

"That's a turtle neck Neji, and I can get one without it. Just give me a minute, I'll go get one." She called taking the shirt and walking away. He stood for a minute then picked up a yellow shirt....it was a zip up on....he said one thing.

"No way in hell am I gonna be this town retarded banana." he said tossing it without care....he may know nothing about his place but he wasn't retarded. As he waited he went through more of the clothing, picking out what he liked and separating it into from what fit him and what needs a bigger size.

"Yo I'm back. It was Sakura and she tossed the shirt over the door." Any thing else? Neji put over 2 shirts. it was two short sleeved flannels.

"Their two big." He declared taking off another shirt.

"No that's how its supposed to be." She said tossing them back over.

"Huh?" Their supposed to be like that? What purpose did that do for anything?

"Come out, put on that white shirt I gave you." She commanded Neji just stood still, Sakura scowled.

"Get out her or I'll come in there." She said lastly and Neji got his ass out there. He had on the plain white shirt she ordered him to wear.

"Okay now just put this on, don't button it up." She handed him a blue flannel. He did what she told.

"That's it, that's all it is." She declared enthusiastically. Neji looked at himself...it was pointless. but he had to admit it was comfortable.

"Alright what shirts do you want?" She asked, Neji Nodded and grabbed the clothing that he could wear.

"Alright I'll go get a few pairs of these, Now for pants." She said walking to the cart and picking up the pants. Neji sighed, he felt like a little girls doll.

After another dressing room suspension, well how Neji viewed it. They had enough clothes for him for the rest of this winter and spring. Sakura says their's not much of a summer here....its usually spring weather through out summer, but there were a few days that could kill.

He followed here as she went to another section, Neji could easily tell what it was...underwear. Neji blushed...they could by these here? in front of everyone? she walked down the isle and grabbed a package. and read something on it, then she looked at Neji.

"Defiantly boxers." She said then put it back and grabbed two different packages. She tossed them in the cart and went to socks. Neji looked in....god she was like a mom, she knew what size his underwear even was. She tossed two packages of socks in the cart then she walked away. Neji followed...maybe she had eyes in the back of her head like a mom too.

It wasn't long till he felt something in his stomach then it growled. Sakura whipped behind her quickly, she was obviously startled by it. She looked at him then laughed.

"We'll get something to eat after we pay for these and find Shikamaru." She said grabbing him by the arm and they went deeper into the foreign building.

---------------

srry it took so long, school sucks but im out so i can update and do all that fun stuff, review plz!If u want this to continue review!!!


	6. Chapter 6

Neji and Sakura walked down the linoleum floor way to the back of the store. Neji seen Baby clothes and Canned food...this store had everything! They soon came to the electronics and Neji was in aw yet again. he's seen TVs before but nothing as big and crystal clear as these. Some were hanging on the wall for Christ's sake!

"Hey there's Shikamaru!" Sakura pointed as she pushed the cart towards where he was. Neji slowly followed. He was at a counter getting papers from one of the workers.

"Yo." He greeted as he turned to them.

"Did you get the papers?" Sakura asked...Neji was confused.

"Papers?"

"Yeah...your birth certificate, social security papers and all that jazz." Shikimaru said holding them up. Neji realized his family...

"I need to get to Konaha....My family," Neji began, his uncle would not be pleased to hear he couldn't continue the family's ability to be ninjas.

"Token care of." Shikamaru interrupted him Neji was now really confused...what did he mean by 'Token car of'?

"Sakura contacted Tsunade when she dragged you home and taped you back together. And she contacted your family and had them informed on your health. Then your uncle demanded to retrieve you immediately. Then Sakura told him you were quarantined." Shikimaru explained leaning against the cart. Neji looked at Sakura, she really did that?

"I have one thing to say....that is Neji, your uncle clearly has a stick shoved up his ass." Sakura said in distaste. Neji kind of froze.....she actually said that in front of him.

"W...well....you don't need to say it out loud!" He didn't disagree....but she didn't have to state it. Sure it was disrespectful....but it was true. He may of token him in and raised him as his own... so he respected him for that....but he did have his opinions. Sakura laughed at him and ruffled his hair.

"We're over 900 miles away from Konaha, I highly doubt that they can hear you." She said playfully Shikimaru smirked at his stupidity.

"Relax dude. Let's go." Shikimaru signaled him to follow As they lead down a another isle. He grabbed tubes and bottles and brushes, one for his teeth one for his hair.

"Alright I say we have everything." Sakura said counting up the items in her head. Then they lead him to the beginning of the store again and rang them up by the cashier. Sakura handed her that card again. He seen a number plop out on a small screen. $175.00. Neji jumped. That was so much money in his point of view. he tried to equalize it in yen and got about 1,750,000 yen he stared in shock. That was a lot of money for clothing!

They were out of the store when Neji finally went to talk about the price.

"Sakura....why did you pay that much for clothing?" He asked nervously, he wasn't sure on how it was here but he felt guilty.

"Huh.....that was cheap compared to other places." Neji was in shock at that, more expensive!

"That's outrageous, why would clothing cost over 1,000,000 yen?!?" That's when Sakura and Shikimaru hooked on how he though it was so expensive. "Neji....you added two zeros on that amount." Sakura corrected him sweat dropping. He subtracted the zeros then blushed....that was an extremely good deal on all the essentials. Sakura giggled.

"Don't worry about it. anyway the hokkage sent a certain amount of money for that kind of stuff. So don't worry about it. Besides we're here to help." She said smiling, Neji felt a bit of reassurance in this. He never really got to know Sakura when She was in Konaha. She was always obsessing over the Uchiha. This might be the time to actually know her.

The opened the back of the car and put the bags in it. They all hopped in the car and left the store.

"Where to eat?" Sakura asked putting her hands behind her head. Neji didn't care where...he just wanted some food.

"How about That one burrito place?" Sakura asked....what was a burrito?

"We went there last weekend, how about the fish place?" Shikimaru said Sakura shook her head.

"They're closed for renovations remember?" Shikimaru remembered an sighed. Neji was very confused.

"What about the old station place?" Shikimaru said.

"Fine with me." Sakura said....Neji sighed, he didn't know anything about this town so he was out of the conversation. Sakura noticed him being quiet.

"The station has some pretty good food so I'm sure you can find something to eat." She said to him. he nodded....he didn't know why he was so hungry now.

The car ride was pleasant for the time being, he even herd music coming from the radio in the car. A radio built in a car, who would of ever thought. It was pleasant music, it wasn't sissy music that early teens listened to, and it wasn't the stuff that the rebels of Konaha blasted. Just in between and easy to listen to. They even had a few comedy acts thrown in it that he could actually understand. The driving was longer and longer.

Neji began to notice something....he wasn't feeling to well. His stomach turned upside down and he felt light headed. He cradled his head. Sakura looked behind her and turned around noticing his expression.

"Hey, are you ok?" He looked up and seen two sakura's....

"No....I think I'm gonna hurl."

"Do you think you can," Sakura began but was interrupted when Neji said.

"Oh god!" He covered his mouth. Shikimaru slammed on the breaks And hit a button, the door flew open. Neji fell over , out of the car and heaved. Sakura turned her head around, trying not to stare. The sounds of him groaning and coughing made both of them a bit uneasy.

Neji hadn't felt this sick in a really long time, well unless the time Naruto replaced his water canting with a double Sake mixture. That about killed him. Sakura opened the car door and stepped out to check on Neji. He was gasping for air, on his hands and knees on the cold, icy graveled road. She knelt down.

"Hey Shikamaru, do you still have that spare coat in the seat?" Sakura asked rubbing Neji's back. He had nothing in his stomach so it was all bile. Poor thing.

"Yeah, go ahead and grab it." Shikamaru called, She turned and unlatched the seat. and pulled out a coat, it had a fur hood. She lied it on his back.

"You done?" She asked gently. He looked up, he felt ok.

"Ye," He started it up again. Sakura sweat dropped. They'd give him 5 more minutes.

After he was done, Sakura helped him up and back into the backseat. He was so tired. Sakura sat in the backseat with him, he lied face down on her legs....he knew it was disrespectful to her....but his mind wouldn't think straight.

"Do we have any saltines in the glove department?" Sakura asked Shikamaru.

"Hang on, he opened the glove department and Neji herd shuffling. What were Saltines? He gave a stiffing grunt, signally he found some. He tossed them back to Sakura.

"Neji, eat this. It will settle your stomach and tie you over for the time being." Sakura handed him a saltine, they were just crackers. He turned his head and nibbled on it. The salt tingled his lips and it brought the little color he did have back to his face. He was very tired now... anyone would. It wasn't long till he fell asleep in her lap. Sakura watched him, he just fell asleep....right then and there.

"He fell asleep." She said to herself. Shikimaru turned his head slightly.

"Huh?"

"Nothing, let just go home, I'll make some food." Shikimaru nodded and pulled a U-ie.

Neji was out cold, Sakura tried poking him and talking to him, but he was out. To Neji, where ever he was, it was warm. He unconsciously wrapped his arms around it and buried his head into it.

Sakura jumped at this, his head was buried in her stomach now. She twitched, was he really that heavy of a sleeper? She sighed then just delt with it. being carsick was the worst thing in the world, just like a hangover. So she let him sleep, her fist time in a long car ride she hurled her brains out.

They were finally back in the small town where they lived. Sakura tried waking Neji up again, This time she flicked him in the nose. That woke him up.

"Hey!" He wasn't happy, that actually hurt a bit.

"We're home. Stop trying to rape my stomach." she said jokingly. He finally realized that he was very close to her. he blushed. He jumped away from her only to hit his head on the car ceiling. Sakura laughed her head off and Shikimaru smirked. Neji on the other hand knocked himself silly. He hit his really hard. He soon went into the fetal position and cradled his head, that hurt like hell.

Sakura rubbed his back.

"There there little accident prone person." She giggled, Neji was still too out of it to tell what she saying. She sweat dropped....he didn't just give himself a concussion... did he?

--------------------

ok, another chapter of fall out. hope you guys review, it boosts the self esteem.


End file.
